Just like it says, Popcorn Shorts is about the kind of things we think are really interesting, but don’t really need a large article to explain them. From the sublime to the ridiculous, check in here for crunchy bits of info you’ll love to munch. By the way, much (but not necessarily all) of our delicious Popcorn comes from articles we’ve posted on our Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, please stop by and “Like” us and we’ll keep a fairly-constant-but-not-frequent-enough-to-be-annoying stream of these coming to your virtual door!
Navy confirms UFOs ARE REAL!
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been around as long as people looked up and said “What the hell is THAT?” Most have mundane explanations but some just can’t be puzzled out. Many people have tried; not just curious citizens but also the US Government in Project Blue Book during the 50’s and 60’s. Their investigation continued with the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) from 2007-2012. Last week Navy pilots were confirming the authenticity of video footage examined by AATIP, amazing footage showing aircraft performance beyond anything ‘we’ have. The Navy has confirmed UFO’s exist… not alien or interdimensional craft, but flying objects we just can’t identify… yet.
Bow down before the consummate craftsman
Our Technician James M. is a master modeller who knows his stuff, so when he told us about a craftsman who impressed HIM, we listened and wanted to share it with you. Meet Bobby Duke of Bobby Duke Arts, a guy who specializes in… well, you just have to see. If you check out the black widow spider he carved into a billiard ball, the pencil carved from a pencil carved from a pencil, or the hunting knife carved from a steel bolt you’ll just be getting started, but save time to watch the video of the sculpture he made from 3500 colored pencils… which goes tragically wrong at the 12:57 mark.
$13 million dollars PER PRISONER
It cost about $1.5M (today’s dollars) to hold one Nazi war criminal in Spandau Prison in 1985, and $78,000 to house each high-risk prisoner at Colorado’s “supermax” facility in 2012. Now, Guantánamo Bay costs about $13 million for each of the 40 prisoners being held there. From the New York Times, “… the total cost last year of holding the prisoners — including the men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — paying for the troops who guard them, running the war court and doing related construction, exceeded $540 million., more… The estimated annual cost of $540 million covers the 12-month period that ended last Sept. 30 and does not include expenses that have remained classified…”
The “Far Side” is coming back!
from Nerdist.com- “After sitting dormant since 1999, The Far Side‘s webpage was updated suddenly and without warning (which we first learned about at The Daily Cartoonist). It features a new cartoon of an explorer using a blowtorch to melt some of the strip’s most iconic characters from a large block of ice. Below it reads, “Uncommon, unreal, and (soon-to-be) unfrozen. A new online era of The Far Side is coming!” Since the cartoon itself is signed by Larson, it certainly appears he will be returning with all new comics for the first time in almost 25 years…”
